PJO & HOO reading the Lightning Theif
by ClaraOswinOswald42
Summary: When Percy and his friends are transported to Olympus to read about Percy's life, what happens? How will Percy feel about everyone knowing his feelings and thoughts? How will Jason, Piper and Leo react when they finally learn why Percy is so popular. Set after The Lost Hero series. Jason stayed at Camp Half-Blood.
1. Prologue

**A/N - Hi guys. So, I've read so many of these fanfics online and I always wondered what it would be like if I wrote one. This is my first fanfic so constructive criticism is very welcome. **

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**Chapter 1**

Percy's POV

It was a normal day at Camp Half-Blood. Conner and Travis Stoll were pranking Katie Gardener. Clarisse and Chris were sparring in the arena. And I was sitting on the beach with my best friends, Annabeth, my girlfriend, Leo, Jason and Piper. Thalia was away with the hunters, Grover was out somewhere doing all of his 'Lord of the Wild' stuff and Nico was down in the Underworld with his dad.

Then, The Stolls came running along the beach. All of us stood up and our hands went straight to our pockets. "Relax" Travis said, "We're not here to steal anything. Apollo has sent Chiron a little message saying that he has to gather up some campers on this list and we will all be transported to Olympus. All your names are on there to."

I looked at my friends and they nodded so together the seven of us walked over to the mess hall. Gathered there was Chiron who was standing in front of a very pissed Katie Gardener who was covered in mud, Clarisse and Chris were holding hands and others like Malcolm, Will Solace, Drew, Pollux and Jake Mason were dotted around.

The minute we arrived, everyone became quite. Chiron coughed and everyone looked at him. Just as he was about to speak, a large, glowing light surrounded us all and the next thing I knew, we were standing in the Olympus throne room; although it wasn't a throne room anymore. Where Zeus' throne usually would be, there was a small podium, with a small chair on. The other gods' thrones were replaced by a semi-circle of chairs facing the podium. All the 12 Olympians were there, including some other gods. There was Zeus, Hera, Hades, Dionysus, Ares, Aphrodite, Artemis, Athena, Hestia, Poseidon, Hephaestus, Demeter, Apollo and Hermes. Apollo was sitting at the small podium at the front. "Demigods" Apollo said, "Please, present yourselves, then take a seat and I shall explain why I have gathered everyone here."

I stepped forward. "Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon." I stated and dad smiled at me. I bowed at Hestia and Lord Zeus as well as getting a very open glare from a few of the gods, (namely Ares and Hera). I took a seat in the next empty one, next to Artemis. Then everyone else presented themselves.

"Annabeth, Daughter of Athena." She came and sat next to me.

"Leo Valdez, Son of Hephaestus."

"Piper McLean, Daughter of Aphrodite." This carried on until most of the seats were filled. Then, another three figures appeared.

"Thalia"

"Grover"

"Nico"

There were many hugs and greetings shared until Apollo coughed very loudly. Everyone went back to their seats, now all of them being filled. "What a nice little reunion, hey, but I am sure we are all dying to know why I, Apollo, the best god there is, have summoned you all here." There were a lot of murmurs and agreements between everyone. "Well, I woke up this morning to find a package on my desk. There was a small note that said _'Just to help some understand.' _It never said who gave it to me. I opened it and found 5 books." He brought out 5 very old, tattered books from underneath the chair. "They read _Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, Percy Jackson and the Titans Curse, Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth _and _Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian._"

By this time, everyone's eyes were on me. I could feel my face burning up. "I thought, what better way to explain to everyone your thoughts and feeling and adventures than to read them. So, who would like to learn about Percy's life?" Every single demigod and god put their hand up straight away except for me. Apollo glanced at me with a smirk on his face. "I'm sorry Percy it seems you have been outnumbered. So, seeing as though they are _your _stories, Percy, you can do the honour of reading the first chapter." There were a few snickers as I walked up to the podium. Apollo handed me the book and practically forced me to sit down. He walked over to an empty seat and sat down as I opened the first page.

"**_Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief,_**_" _I read. _"__**Chapter 1: I Accidentally Vaporize My Maths Teacher.**__"_


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N - This is my second chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or The Lost Hero**

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**Chapter 2**

Percy's POV

**I Accidentally Vaporize My Maths Teacher.**

"What a…interesting title." Athena stated, achieving a couple of nods in agreement.

"What does that even mean?" Leo asked.

Grover, Chiron and I shared a look. "You'll see," we said together.

**Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.**

"Who does?" Jason said, whilst everybody else smiled at the fact that they were thinking the same thing.

**If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is…**

Travis and Conner Stoll jumped from their seats and hid behind them. "Ahh, Percy's giving advice, run for your lives!" Everyone snickered but was interrupted when a massive wave knocked them to the ground.

Percy and Poseidon were standing next to each other with a trident each.

"Don't ever make fun of my son again." Poseidon demanded, earning a small whimper from the boys followed by them hastily returning to their seats.

Percy and Poseidon high-fived each other.

"Boys," Athena and Annabeth chorused.

**…close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.**

"But aren't they already in trouble if they've read this, seriously seaweed brain!" Annabeth stated in a 'matter-of-factly' tone.

I replied by saying, "yeah, well, not everyone's as smart as you, wise girl. And don't forget I was only twelve."

**Being a half-blood in dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.**

Everyone felt the same feeling inside themselves – the shiver down the spine, the tingling sensation in the tips of your fingers, the squirmish sense in the pit of your stomach.

**If you're a normal kid reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened. But if you recognize yourself in these pages – if you feel something stirring inside -…."**

"Dramatic much," Clarisse grumbled.

**Stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time until ****_they _****sense it to, and they'll come for you. Don't say I didn't warn you. My name is Percy Jackson. I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York. Am I a trouble kid?**

"YES" everyone who knew me chorused. I rolled my eyes.

"Wow, you wouldn't believe the Percy here is the same Percy that went missing." Jason chuckled.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, back then, everyone was talking about you in the heroic sort of way, now all they can do is make fun of you." He replied.

I chuckled as everyone started to protest, saying it was just a joke. "Guys, guys, we can discuss whether you like me or not later. Let's just get on with the story." I said.

**Yeah. You could say that. I could start at any point in my short, miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan – twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, headed to the metropolitan Museum of Art to look at Ancient Greek and Roman stuff.**

"Oh, I've always wanted to go there. Apparently…" Annabeth started.

"SHUT UP!" everyone shouted. Annabeth just rolled her eyes.

**I know – it sounds like torture.**

Everyone laughed at Annabeth and Athena's expressions.

**Most Yancy field trips were. But Mr Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip so I had hopes. Mr Brunner was this middle aged guy in this motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. **

"CHIRON!" everyone shouted.

The old centaur in the corner of the room just chuckled. "You don't think I would leave a demigod like Percy without safe protection do you?"

**You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he also told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armour and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.**

"Well, it's nice to know I had some impact on your school work." Chiron said, hinting out some pride in his tone.

**I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get into trouble.**

"Like that's going to happen, Seaweed Brain, staying out of trouble." Annabeth laughed.

"I will believe that the day Travis and Conner stop pranking." Thalia added.

Everyone laughed whilst I sunk lower in the chair.

I noticed the gods were enjoying watching their kids having fun. They sat back with smiles on their faces, watching as everyone teased me, making all the demigods grins wider and wider each time.

**Boy was I wrong. See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga Battlefield, I had this accident with this revolutionary war cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway. And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim.**

By this time, Travis, Conner, Leo and Nico were rolling on the flour with laughter.

Travis said, "O…M…G, Percy, you should…have told…us this earlier. That way…we could have…used your…help to make…our pranks…better."

**And the time before that… Well, you get the idea.**

Leo pouted, "Oh, I wanted to hear more about Percy's problems."

**This trip, I was determined to be good. All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly red-headed kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter and ketchup sandwich.**

"Eeewwww!" Aphrodite and her daughters squealed.

**Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several years, because he was the only sixth-grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of that, he was crippled.**

"Thanks Perce, nice to know that's what you thought of me." Grover said, looking quite offended.

"Sorry, G-Man, I didn't know what you were back then." I defended.

**He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should have seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.**

Dionysus sat up in his chair. "That's not a very good way to keep your cover, Mr Underwood."

Grover turned a beetroot colour. "I'm sorry Lord Dionysus. I will try harder next time."

**Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with the death-by-in-school-suspension if anything bad, embarrassing or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.**

Piper looked horrified, along with Jason and Leo, "Well, that's not very fair. What if it wasn't Percy's fault?"

Nico replied by saying, "Look Piper, what you gotta understand is that if there's any trouble caused near Percy, then it's more than likely going to be his fault." Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Hey," I defended, "I don't always cause trouble."

"YES YOU DO!" nearly everyone in the room shouted back at me causing me to roll my eyes and just carry on reading.

**"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled. **

"Yeah, let's see some action." Ares growled.

**Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter." He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch. "That's it." I started to get up but Grover pulled me back down to my seat. "You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens." Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into.**

"Foreshadowing," Athena said, "A very good use of writing.

Annabeth replied to her mother, "I completely agree mother. I think it really shows…"

"Hey, wise girl, I really would like to finish this chapter before tomorrow, so could you maybe, you know…" I interrupted.

"SHUT UP" everyone finished for me.

Annabeth's face became ruby red, and I silently chuckled to myself, thinking how good it was not to be the only one to be picked on.

**Mr Brunner led the museum tour. He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black and orange pottery. It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years. **

Athena said, "Longer, actually," but at least she knew not to continue.

**He gathered us around a four metre tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a ****_stele_****, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, **

"Wow, Percy actually found something interesting." Will Solace stated, triggering another round of chuckles and giggles.

**but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs Dodds, would give me the evil eye. Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown. From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month. **

"Is that who I think it is?" Nico asked, turning pale.

"Yep." I simply replied.

"Oh no."

I saw my dad turn a slight shade of white. "Why, what's wrong?" he asked.

"You'll see," I said, earning a glare from him, which I just ignored, carrying on with the story.

**One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."**

Thalia said, "Seriously Grover, you cannot keep a secret, can you?"

**Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art. Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, "Will you shut up?" It came out louder than I meant it to. The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story. "Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?" My face was totally red. I said,"No, sir." Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?" I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?" "Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because ..." "Well..." I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and-"**

"GOD!" everyone shouted, looking very shocked.

"I was twelve years old and didn't think it was important. I never saw the need to learn the specific details." I retaliated, defending myself from humiliation.

**"God?" Mr. Brunner asked. "Titan," I corrected myself. "And ... he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-" "Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me. "-and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won."**

Malcolm sat up, "Huh, he managed to describe thousands of years of a battle in 30 seconds and it actually made sense."

All the demigods and gods laughed at this comment, causing me to groan at the sudden return of the 'humiliate Percy' phase.

**Some snickers from the group.**

"But he got it right" Zeus bellowed, causing everyone to jump from the sound of his deep loud voice.

**Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'" "And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?" "Busted," Grover muttered. "Shut up," Nancy hissed her face even brighter red than her hair. At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.**

Chiron laughed and everyone turned their heads towards him. "I wouldn't go for radar ears, horses ears, yes, but not radar ears."

**I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir." "I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?" The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses. Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson." I knew that was coming. I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?" Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go- intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything.**

"I have," Chiron muttered, but I had a feeling only I heard what he said, based on the faces of the people sitting in front of me.

** "You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me. "About the Titans?" "About real life. And how your studies apply to it." "Oh." "What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson." I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard. **

"I only wanted the best for you Percy. And I knew you were capable." Chiron said, and I smiled back at me, liking the encouragement from my old teacher.

**I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armour and shouted: "What ho!'" and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped. But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C- in my life. No-he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly. I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral.**

"I was," Chiron said, and I recognized the same look on his face that had been their almost 6 years ago.

**He told me to go outside and eat my lunch. The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue. Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.**

Jason perked up at the mention of this. "Dad was angry, why?"

"Did you not listen to the title of the book; The _Lightning Thief?" _Thalia said, groaning.

Jason looked embarrassed, "oh, right."

**Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing. Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school-the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.**

All the eyes in the room were on me now and I could feel them.

"What?" I asked.

"Is that really what you thought of yourselves back then?" Annabeth asked, with the same pitiful sound in her voice as to what everyone looked like.

"Well, yeah." I said, as if it was the most obvious think in the universe.

"You shouldn't, son, because you are not a loser or a freak." Poseidon said.

Everyone in the throne room nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, guys." I smiled. Even though these were the people that made fun of me and teased me every day, I forgot just how much they liked me and how much they saw me as a part of their family to.

**"Detention?" Grover asked. "Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean-I'm not a genius." Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"**

Everyone laughed.

Chris chuckled, "Real nice speech, Grover; real supportive."

Grover sunk down in his chair.

**I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it. I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me. Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table.**

"Huh, I never thought about it like that," Annabeth said.

**I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends-I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists-and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap. "Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.**

"Gross," Silena squealed along with the other girls whilst the boys laughed at the description I had made.

**I tried to stay cool. The school counsellor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears. I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!" Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us. Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see-" "-the water-" "-like it grabbed her-"**

"Were those your powers?" Leo asked

"Yep," I replied.

"That is so cool," he said.

I laughed and agreed. "Yes, very cool indeed."

**I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again. As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now, honey-" "I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks."**

"HUH!" Travis and Conner said, "you never guess your punishment Percy, it could get you in even more trouble. Nearly everyone knows that."

**That wasn't the right thing to say. "Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said. "Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her."**

"Wow, Grover, that was really brave." Thalia said, looking quite impressed.

He turned red in embarrassment.

**I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death.**

"Now I know why." I said, and I shuddered at the thought.

**She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled. "I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said. "But-" "You-will-stay-here." Grover looked at me desperately. "It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying." "Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now." Nancy Bobofit smirked. I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare. Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on. How'd she get there so fast? **

Athena's eyes widened. "A monster?" she asked.

"Uh huh," I replied casually.

Poseidon paled even more. "What?" he squeaked.

"Dad, rela…wait, did you just squeak?" I laughed.

"Well, you're being summoned by a monster, how do expect me to react?" He said.

**I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counsellor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things. I wasn't so sure. I went after Mrs. Dodds. Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.**

"Chiron? Do you not think you should've been paying attention?" Annabeth asked.

"I'm sorry, it was a really good book!" he said.

Annabeth just rolled her eyes.

**I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall. Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop. But apparently that wasn't the plan. I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section. Except for us, the gallery was empty.**

"UH OH!" everyone spoke in unison. "This is not good!" Travis added.

**Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling. Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it... "You've been giving us problems, honey," she said. I did the safe thing.**

Katie Gardener said "Wow, Percy did the safe thing, never thought I would hear that!"

The whole room laughed as I complained, but secretly I was enjoying it. It was something I missed whilst I was gone and it was good to be hearing it again.

**I said, "Yes, ma'am." She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?" The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil. She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me. I said, "I'll-I'll try harder, ma'am." Thunder shook the building. "We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain." I didn't know what she was talking about. All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room. Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.**

"But it's a great book," Annabeth protested.

"Yes, well not everyone has your attention span, Annabeth. The book would just bore us all." I said, with a massive grin on my face.

"Shut up Seaweed Brain," Annabeth retaliated, glaring at me, but soon smiling.

"Just can't resist my charm, can you wise girl?" I said, laughing.

"Aawwww," Aphrodite shrieked, "you guys are so cute together."

Annabeth and I blushed, sinking into our chairs as everybody else laughed their heads off.

**"Well?" she demanded. "Ma'am, I don't..." "Your time is up," she hissed. Then the weirdest thing happened. **

Everyone sucked in a big breath and leaned closer.

**Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shrivelled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons. Then things got even stranger. Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand. "What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air. Mrs. Dodds lunged at me. With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword.**

"RIPTIDE" Conner shouted.

**Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day. Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes. My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword. She snarled, "Die, honey!" And she flew straight at me. Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.**

"Natural thing; how is swinging a sword natural?" Jason asked.

"Because Percy is a natural sword fighter; he is the best swordsman this camp has ever seen in 300 years." Annabeth said.

Leo said, "WOW."

I felt my face heat up. "It's nothing."

**The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. Hisss! Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulphur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.**

"YEAH!" Everyone shouted.

**I was alone. There was a ballpoint pen in my hand. Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me. My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something. Had I imagined the whole thing? I went back outside. It had started to rain. Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."**

"Wait, what?" Jake Mason asked.

**I said, "Who?" "Our teacher. Duh!" I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about. She just rolled her eyes and turned away. I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was. He said, "Who?" But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.**

"You are an awful liar, Grover." Travis and Conner said.

**"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious." Thunder boomed overhead. I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved. I went over to him. He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson." I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it. "Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?" He stared at me blankly.**

"Maybe you should take lying lessons from Chiron, Grover." Thalia said.

Everyone who heard laughed aloud, causing Grover to sink even lower in his chair, almost sliding of the end.

** "Who?" "The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The maths teacher." He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"**

"The end," I said. "Who wants to read next?"

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**A/N - hey guys, that was my second chapter. I want to say a massive thanks to ksoccer16 for their great review and great advice. Please R&R.**

** - ClaraOswinOswald42**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N - Hi guys. Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. Been a bit busy. I'm not abandoning this story, so don't worry.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or The Lost Hero**

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**Chapter 3**

Percy's POV

**"So, who wants to read next?" I asked, holding out the book, already standing up from the chair.**

**"I will," Nico said, rising from his chair and walking over. He took the book from me and I went and sat down next to Annabeth.**

**"Okay, Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death," he read.**

**I shivered at this name, remembering and looked over at Grover. He had turned pale and gave me a pale smile.**

**"This one doesn't sound to promising," Thalia said.**

**"You have no idea," Grover and I said at the same time. **

**Annabeth took my hand and gave it a small squeeze. I smiled and turned back to Nico.**

**I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly.** **This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle.**

**"No kidding," Travis said, causing everyone to laugh.**

**As much as I hated it, I was glad I was given a reason to smile properly again.**

**For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr—a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip—had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.** **Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho.** **It got so I almost believed them—Mrs. Dodds had never existed.** **Almost.** **But Grover couldn't fool me. **

**"OBVIOUSLY GROVER" Thalia, Travis, Conner and Leo all shouted together.**

**"You need to learn how to lie Grover," Conner said.**

**Grover just smirked at them and sunk into his chair.**

**When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, and then claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying. Something was going on. Something ****_had _****happened at the museum I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.**

"Wimp," Clarisse growled.

"Hey, you don't know how scary it was, so shut up." I defended.

Clarisse went bright red and everyone clapped and cheered.

**The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy.**

**"Dad, seriously, was there any need for that?" Thalia moaned.**

**"Probably not," Zeus said smugly. **

**One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to F's. I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class. Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good. **

**"It means…" Annabeth started, but I snapped my hand over her mouth before she had any chance to continue. Everyone clapped and cheered and I kept it there until she licked me. I yanked my hand back and she thumped me in the head.**

**"Hey, what was that for?" I asked.**

**She just game me a smug smile and motioned for Nico to carry on whilst laughing at me as I was sulking.**

**The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy. Fine, I told myself. Just fine.** **I was homesick.** **I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties. And yet... there were things I'd miss at Yancy. **

**"Wow, never thought Percy would miss something about a school." Thalia joked.**

**"Haha, very funny..." I said.**

**"She's just teasing you, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said, resting her head on my shoulder. All the girls from the Aphrodite cabin cooed, but I just wrapped my arm around her.**

**The view** **of the woods outside my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, even if he was a little strange. I worried how he'd survive next year without me.**

**"Thanks Perce," Grover mumbled.**

**"No, no, no, I didn't mean it like that. I just…I meant…I said something nice before it, so take that." I said, feeling my cheeks grow hotter and hotter.**

**Grover chuckled and rolled his eyes.**

**I'd miss Latin class, too—Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.** **As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for.**

Chiron smiled. "It's nice to know you were trying, Percy."

**I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him. The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the ****_Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology _****across my dorm room. Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. **

**"ADHD, a demi-god's worst nightmare." Leo said.**

**"It keeps you alive in battler, son, be grateful." Hephaestus.**

**There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Polydeuces. **

**"Are you kidding me Percy, those questions are easy!" Annabeth exclaimed.**

**"Yeah, Percy, gods, how can you not know that?" Nico followed, rolling his eyes. **

**"Alright then, if you're so clever, answer the question." I said, smiling smugly, knowing he wouldn't be able to answer the question.**

**Everyone else had their heads turned towards Nico.**

**"Well, Chiron maybe the **maybe the most important Centaur ever He was known for his knowledge and skill with medicine. He was a great healer, astrologer, and respected oracle, and was said to be the last centaur and highly revered as a teacher and tutor. Charon, however, was the ferryman of Hades who carried souls of the newly deceased across the River Styx that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead."

Everyone's jaw dropped. Hades smirked whilst Nico sat there proudly.

"That's a pinpoint explanation. See, seaweed brain, it is possible to learn these things." Annabeth said.

"Yeah, well maybe you should go out with him instead." I mumbled, annoyed I had been outwitted.

"Never" Annabeth smiled and gave me a peck on the lips.

"AWWWWW" Aphrodite squealed, bringing everyone back to reality.

**And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.** **I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.** **I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. ****_I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson_**

"And so he should Percy," Poseidon exclaimed.

**I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book.** **I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.**

"I always knew you tried Percy, you never had to show me." Chiron said.

I looked around and smiled.

"What?" Annabeth whispered to me.

"Nothing, everything's fine, perfect actually."

She smiled as I looked around at all the faces of my family, knowing that I never had to prove anything to these people. Never had to show them how hard I tried to please them, because it was never necessary.

"They really like him don't they?" Piper whispered to Jason, watching everyone.

"Yeah, and I can see why, he seems like he really cares about them all," he replied, taking Piper's hand.

**I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.** **I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said,** **_"..._** **worried about Percy, sir."** **I froze.** **I'm not usually an eavesdropper,**

"You sure, Percy, because I distinctly remem…" Nico started.

"Nico, shut up, you're gonna ruin it." I said.

"What?" Travis said

"You'll see," was all I said, knowing that it would probably tick them off just a little.

**but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.** **I inched closer.** **"... alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the ****_school_****! Now that we know for sure, and ****_they _****know too—"**

**"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more."**

"A lot more, you mean, don't you Chiron," Thalia, Annabeth and Grover all said causing everyone to laugh.

"Do they do this a lot to you, mate?" Jason asked me, watching all the demi-god's and god's faces.

"Yep, every day," I replied.

"Doesn't it annoy you?"

"No, 'cause I know they are just joking, and look…they are all smiling and laughing and I like that I can cause that, you know…even if it is by making fun of me. It brings them all closer. I mean, this would never of happened on a normal day to day basis if they didn't all share one thing in common…enjoy taking the mick of Percy Jackson." I told him and he just smiled.

**"But he may not have time. The summer solstice dead line— ****_"_**

**"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."**

**"Sir, he ****_saw _****her... ."**

**"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."**

**"Sir, I ... I can't fail in my duties again."**

**"Grover, you never failed your mission. I chose my destiny." Thalia exclaimed and Annabeth nodded her head ferociously. **

**He nodded and hung his head.**

**Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."**

**"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall—"** **The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud. **

**"Nice going Perce, way to blow your cover." Nico just rolled his eyes.**

**Mr. Brunner went silent.** **My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.** **A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.**

"Chiron!" Annabeth said, "You can't just become a centaur in school."

"Annabeth," I said, "shut up, you're starting to sound like his mother."

Everyone sniggered, whilst my girlfriend sank into her chair glaring at me.

**I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.** **A few seconds later I heard a slow ****_clop-clop-clop, _****like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, and then moved on.** **A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.** **Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. **

**"Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."**

**"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn ..."**

**"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."**

**"Don't remind me."**

**"One thing I hate about being a satyr, you have loads and loads of exams." Grover complained.**

**The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.** **I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.** **Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.** **Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.**

**"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"** **I didn't answer.** **"You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"**

**"Just... tired."** **I turned so he couldn't read my expression, and started getting ready for bed.**

"Satyrs can read emotions Percy that would never have worked." Malcolm said.

"Well I didn't know that then, did I?" I stated.

**I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.** **But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger.**

"When aren't you in danger?" Chris said.

**The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam, **

**"Three hours!" Leo said, "that's torture."**

**my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.** **For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.**

**"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's ... it's for the best."**

**"Here comes one of Chiron's pep talks," Travis said.**

**His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips.**

**I mumbled, "Okay, sir."**

**"I mean ..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."** **My eyes stung.**

"Wow, this was not at all what I thought it would be." Katie Gardener said.

**Here was my favourite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believe in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out. **

**"Right," I said, trembling.**

**"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say ... you're not normal, Percy That's nothing to be—"**

**"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me."**

**"Percy—"** **But I was already gone.**

"Chiron, you really need to learn what to say to a twelve year old boy with a mind like Percy's." Katie continued.

"Look, I'm sorry Percy, I didn't mean it that way." Chiron defended.

"I know it's fine Chiron," I said sincerely, although my eyes were starting to sting again, as I remembered how much it had hurt at the time.

Annabeth noticed and took my hand. I looked down and found her smiling at me. I kissed her on her forehead and turned back to Nico so he could continue reading.

**On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.** **The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were ****_rich _****juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.** **They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.**

**"Did they know whether you were rich or not?" Leo asked.**

**"Of course, everyone knew where everyone stood. One of the reasons no one wanted to be friends with me," I said.**

**What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.**

**"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."** **They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.**

"Well that was rude," Thalia grumbled.

**The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had** **so there we were, together again, heading into the city.** **During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen.**

"Things usually do on the last day of term. No one seems to be watching a half-blood at that point. Seems right to act nervous." Grover told us.

**Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.** **Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.**

**I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"**

"You nearly gave me a heart attack at that point." Grover recalled.

"It wasn't my intention G-man. Sorry." I replied.

**Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. **

**"Wha—what do you mean?"** **I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.** **Grover's eye twitched. "How much ****_did _****you hear?"**

**"Oh ... not much.** **What's the summer solstice dead-line?" **

"Yeah, I heard the whole conversation," said Leo, "So, not much. Not much."

Everyone chuckled, which caused Leo to get overly excited. Sensing this, Piper slapped him, and he sat down rubbing where she slapped him.

**He winced. "Look, Percy ... I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers …"**

**"Grover—"**

**"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and ..."**

**"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar." **

**"That's what we've been saying," everyone shouted, causing all the attention to move to Grover, who was now ruby read and had pulled his cap right down over his eyes.**

**His ears turned pink.** **From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer.** **The card was in fancy script,** **which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like:**

**_Grover Underwood_**

**_Keeper_**

**_Half-Blood Hill_**

**_Long Island, New York_**

**_(800)_** **_009-0009_**

**"What's Half—"**

**"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um ... summer address."** **My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.**

**"Why not?" Grover said, with a hint of fake hurt.**

**"'Cus, you were just so much like me; kind, considerate; not uptight and bossy like everyone else," I replied. **

**"Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."**

**He nodded. "Or...or if you need me." **

**"Why would I need you?"**

**"Bit harsh Perce," Nico said.**

**It came out harsher than I meant it to.**

"At least I realised for myself." I replied, not wanting to cause another 'Let's tease Percy' period.

**Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I—I kind of have to protect you."** **I stared at him.** **All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me.** **And here he was acting like he was the one who defended ****_me._**

"I suppose it does sound a little odd when you put it that way," Jason stated.

**"Grover," I said, "What exactly are you protecting me from?"** **There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs.**

**"Rotten eggs?" Leo asked.**

**"What? I was twelve years old, and lived at a boarding school. It's not like I had anything to compare it with." I shot back at him.**

**He just laughed.**

**The driver cursed and steered the Greyhound over to the side of the highway. After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.** **We were on a stretch of country road—no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars.** **On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.**

All the Gods eyes widened at this point.

"Such a young age."

"Always to the powerful ones."

"Oh dear me, Percy."

"What? What are they all talking about?" The demi-gods chorused.

"My, my, Percy, if I only knew how much danger you were in." Poseidon scolded himself.

"What? What is wrong?" Everyone said again.

"You'll see," was all I said.

"You know, I am really starting to hate those two words." Thalia muttered.

**The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice****_. _****There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen. **

**"Oh my gods, please tell us they are not who we think they are?" Annabeth said, worry coming out of her voice. I wrapped my harm around her and gave her a little squeeze. She relaxed into my shoulder and smiled.**

**I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn. **

**"Luke" Annabeth sighed out his name, as if it was still painful to remember him. And I suppose, in a way, it was for her. **

**I kissed her on the forehead and whispered "he was a hero. One of the best." **

**All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.** **The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.** **I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.**

**"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man—"**

**"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"**

**"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"**

**"You always find a way to break the tension, don't you Percy?" Thalia said.**

**"It's just who I am, Thals." I replied, joking around. **

**"We know, Perce, we know." She answered back, with everyone's nods following on.**

**"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."** **The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors—gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears.** **I heard Grover catch his breath.** **"We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."**

**"What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."**

**"Come on!'" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back. Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that ****_snip _****across four lanes of traffic. **

**"Oh dear, this is not good." Poseidon turned as white as snow.**

**"Dad, relax, it isn't mine." I reassured him.**

**"Whose is it then?" Zeus bellowed, once again his deep voice almost knocking everyone off their chairs.**

**"Spoilers." I replied.**

**Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for—Sasquatch or Godzilla. At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.** **The passengers cheered.**

**"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"** **Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.**

"It's starting, its actually starting." Poseidon squeaked.

"Dad, I've just told you, it wasn't my string." I said, _again._

**Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.** **"Grover?"**

**"Yeah?"**

**"What are you not telling me?"** **He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. **

**"Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"**

**"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like ... Mrs. Dodds, are they?"** **His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies **

**"Fruit stand ladies, really seaweed brain." Annabeth smirked.**

**"Shut your mouth wise girl." I joked back, earning a very hard punch in the arm.**

**"Ow, that actually hurt, you know." I pouted, but Annabeth just rolled her eyes. **

**were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw."**

**"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."** **He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost—older.**

**He said, "You saw her snip the cord."**

**"Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.**

**"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time."**

**"What last time?"**

**"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."**

**"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. **

**"Wimp," Clarisse said. "You don't get scared of a monster, but Grover freaking out about yarn scares you.**

**"I was twelve and didn't have a clue what was going on!" I said, for what felt like the millionth time.**

**"What are you talking about?"**

**"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."** **This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.**

"I doubt he's going to keep that promise," Jake Mason said, and everyone agreed.

"Thanks guys, nice to know you trust me so much." I said, pretending to be offended.

Everyone just laughed and turned back towards Nico.

**"Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.** **No answer.** **"Grover—that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?" He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.**

"And that's the end of that chapter." Nico said, putting the book down. "Now, I am starving, are we allowed to have some lunch, Lord Apollo?"

Suddenly, a large table appeared in the middle of the room, filled with everything and anything you could possibly want.

"Tuck in," Apollo simply said.

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**A/N - So that's my third Chapter. I just want to say thank you to all your support and reviews. Please R&R. I'll try and get the next one up a little quicker.**

** - ClaraOswinOswald42**


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